Commentary

Steven Mitrakos from Morris Plains volunteers Tuesday at St. Rose in Belmar, one year to the day superstorm Sandy hit New Jersey. / PHOTO: STEPHEN EDELSON

Jets punter Ryan Quigley volunteers in Belmar on Tuesday, one year to the day that superstorm Sandy hit New Jersey. / PHOTO COURTESY JETS

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BELMAR — It didn’t take long to see that the 40 or so volunteers truly embodied the place and time, in a convent basement behind St. Rose a year to the day since superstorm Sandy impacted so many lives.

Brian Leftwich, for instance, had his first experience with post-disaster construction following Hurricane Katrina. He’s since helped build rooftop gardens in Haiti so earthquake victims would have fresh food, and as one of Jersey Care’s project coordinators, his five-minute lecture on how to hang drywall was impressive and useful for a group tasked with finishing off a space that was submerged by the massive storm surge six blocks from the beach.

So a half-hour later, when a small group of Jets’ players, accompanied by a photographer and video crew, made their way into the basement, it struck me as just another blatant photo opportunity, one of many that would take place up and down the Jersey Shore on this day.

Turns out I was wrong, which — as my wife likes to point out — happens quite often.

Ryan Quigley could punt a football farther than anyone in attendance, but as he spread spackle across the drywall joints his method was as awkward as everyone else’s. And just like the rest of group, his heart was in the right place as he dug in and got to work.

“Whenever they ask for volunteers I like to say ‘yes,’ ” said Quigley, signed by the team seven weeks ago. “I mean, I haven’t been here long, but it’s one of those things where you say, ‘If I ever make it to that point, I want to give back and help others out if given that opportunity and that platform.’ It’s what everyone has to do.”

Turns out Quigley’s father, Joe, a former coach and current athletic director in North Myrtle Beach, S.C., is originally from West Long Branch. And the Quigleys came to the area every summer for three weeks to see family, with Ryan Quigley visiting his cousins last spring and seeing the destruction first-hand.

“It’s been so eye-opening,” he added. “I grew up in South Carolina and we get hurricanes there. Hugo was when I was born, and we’ve had others, but not this bad. To come here and see this a year later, there are places where it looks like the hurricane just came through.”

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Wide receiver Michael Campbell indicated he felt “blessed,” to be able to help in any way he could, as running back Bilal Powell and tight end Chris Pantale, a native of Wayne Hills, hung drywall in a hallway.

After a while, they were one — the players, the volunteers, the organizers, all functioning as a harmonious group. And if some added publicity helps raise awareness to the situation many still face, then so be it.

In another room, a group from Advanced Data Processing in Roseland carefully measured a piece of drywall before running a razor along a straight edge to make the cut.

“What ADP does every year is allocate a day to go out and do volunteer work within the community, and what better day than the one-year anniversary of Sandy,” said Steven Mitrakos from Morris Plains. “It’s just special to be able to come down here and help.”

Rich Davis works for Jersey Cares, the organization that rounded up 5,000 volunteers for 120 sites to commemorate the anniversary. He got his start in the service world after graduating from Wagner with a stint in the AmeriCorps program City Year, where volunteers work to make a difference in inner city schools.

Now the Sicklerville native is helping organize events like this one.

“To be able to help, and to have this outpouring of volunteerism in my home state is amazing,” Davis noted.

In the immediate aftermath of Sandy, Leftwich was in the trenches in New York, mucking out basements in the Rockaways. A year later, he concurs with Davis.

“New Jersey and New York have just been incredible with the communities coming out and serving,” he added. “It’s just been amazing to see. There’s something special here.”

And as the morning progressed, account executives, students and professional football players worked side-by-side for the greater good.